Amos 4
About AmosWritten by AI
Amos was not a professional prophet. He was a herdsman and a tender of fig trees from Tekoa, a village in Judah, whom God sent north to preach in Israel around 760 BC. It was a time of peace and wealth for the few, while the poor were cheated in court and sold for a pair of sandals.
The book opens with judgment on Israel's neighbors, then turns the spotlight on Israel itself. Amos speaks against comfortable religion: crowded festivals and offerings that went on while justice was ignored. His visions show God's patience coming to an end.
Watch for Amos's central plea: “But let justice roll on like a river.” And notice the last chapter, where God promises to rebuild the fallen tent of David. James quotes that promise in Acts 15 when the early church welcomed Gentile believers.
Before you read Amos 4Written by AI
Amos calls the wealthy women of Samaria "cows of Bashan" for oppressing the poor while demanding drinks. Then God lists the hardships He sent, famine, drought, blight, and plague, each followed by the same sad refrain: yet you did not return to Me. It ends with a solemn summons: prepare to meet your God.
Punishment Brings No Repentance
Hear this word,
you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
you women who oppress the poor
and crush the needy,
who say to your husbands,
“Bring us more to drink.”
The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness:
“Behold, the days are coming
when you will be taken away with hooks,
and your posterity with fishhooks.
You will go out through broken walls,
each one straight ahead of her,
and you will be cast out toward Harmon,”
declares the LORD.
“Go to Bethel and transgress;
rebel even more at Gilgal!
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days.
Offer leavened bread as a thank offering,
and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings.
For that is what you children of Israel love to do,”
declares the Lord GOD.
“I afflicted all your cities with cleanness of teeth
and all your towns with lack of bread,
yet you did not return to Me,”
declares the LORD.
“I also withheld the rain from you
when the harvest was three months away.
I sent rain on one city
but withheld it from another.
One field received rain;
another without rain withered.
People staggered from city to city
for water to drink,
but they were not satisfied;
yet you did not return to Me,”
declares the LORD.
“I struck you with blight and mildew
in your growing gardens and vineyards;
the locust devoured your fig and olive trees,
yet you did not return to Me,”
declares the LORD.
“I sent plagues among you
like those of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp,
yet you did not return to Me,”
declares the LORD.
“Some of you I overthrew
as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze,
yet you did not return to Me,”
declares the LORD.
“Therefore, that is what I will do
to you, O Israel,
and since I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
For behold, He who forms the mountains,
who creates the wind
and reveals His thoughts to man,
who turns the dawn to darkness
and strides on the heights of the earth—
the LORD, the God of Hosts, is His name.”